Email Marketing is Just Ducky for Boston Tour Company

If you visit the historic city of Boston, you won't want to leave without taking a "Duck Tour." This famous one-hour, by-water and by-land tour gives participants the unique opportunity to see Boston while riding in a renovated World War II amphibious land vehicle known as a "duck boat." Tour operator and Constant Contact customer Boston Duck Tours began as a four-duck, 15-employee business in 1994 and has grown into a 24-duck, 125-employee powerhouse in the Boston tourism market. Since 1994, the "ducks" have carried more than 5 million visitors, including the winners of the 2004 and 2007 World Series, the Boston Red Sox.

Challenge: Getting Different Ducks in a Row

Boston Duck Tours uses many forms of public relations and marketing. Three years ago, the company wanted to add email marketing to its repertoire and Constant Contact was recommended by a PR professional.

According to the company's Assistant Director of Marketing and Sales, Bob Schwartz, the company also faced the challenge of a segmented market and needed to appeal to many different constituents, including groups, individuals, and employees. Bob felt Constant Contact was a good fit because it gave him a way to communicate with his many external and internal audiences.

Solution: Targeted Email Promotions Fit the Bill

Bob says Constant Contact allows him to easily segment his list, which includes more than 10,000 addresses. Since we implemented email marketing, Boston Duck Tour package earnings have increased by 153 percent. This segmentation enables him to promote special group package tours to the audiences that would be most interested (meeting planners, tour operators, and student groups, to name a few). Packages include a duck tour and visits to other tourist and recreational destinations such as shopping districts, museums, and restaurants. These "partner" packages help with word-of-mouth marketing because they bring traffic to duck tour partners, who, in turn, promote the duck tours.

Group tour sales make up 40 percent of the company's revenue, so successfully marketing to this audience is critical for the business. "We use targeted email marketing to encourage these groups to think about our upcoming season. We send them an email announcement two to three times a year. I don't send too often. I want my messages to be useful and have impact," he says.

Individuals-those who have subscribed on the website-are another important part of Boston Duck Tours business. Bob targets this audience with special discounts and promotions later in the season, when the group traffic has slowed down.

Bob also uses Constant Contact to communicate with the company's 125+ employees. "Every week, we send notices about changes of policy and other important information. Before Constant Contact, we printed weekly notices and went through a lot of paper. I like that I can use Constant Contact to do so much. It makes it an easy sell," he says.

Results: The Ducks Take Wing with Constant Contact

Since adding email marketing with Constant Contact, Boston Duck Tours no longer uses direct mail. They still print flyers and brochures as leave-behinds, but don't bulk mail these materials. According to Bob, the company relies solely on email to communicate with customers because it is affordable, trackable, and effective. "It's a great tool. Everyone should use it."

Constant Contact has played an important role in promoting Boston Duck Tours, especially its partner packages. "Since we implemented email marketing, Boston Duck Tour package earnings have increased by 153 percent," Bob says.

With help from Constant Contact, Bob has no trouble keeping his Boston ducks in a row.